2026 NCAA Tournament Bracket
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com) – North Carolina used a dominating performance to lock up a spot in the title game of the 2026 NCAA Division I Women’s Lacrosse Championship, rolling to a 16-6 triumph over No. 3 seed Maryland in the national semifinals on Friday, May 22, at Martin Stadium in Evanston, Illinois.
The No. 2 seed Tar Heels (19-1) will play the winner of the No. 1 Northwestern-No. 4 Johns Hopkins semifinal matchup in the national championship game on Sunday, May 24, at noon ET on ESPN.
North Carolina advanced to the national championship game for the second straight season and the seventh time in school history. UNC is vying for its second straight national championship and the fifth in program history.
Chloe Humphrey led the Tar Heels with five goals and an assist, while Addison Pattillo scored five times and Kate Levy scored three goals. With her fifth goal, Humphrey broke the ACC single-season goals record with her 107th of the season. The previous record of 106 was held by Boston College’s Rachel Clark in 2025. Humphrey is just two goals of the NCAA record of 109, which was set by Northwestern’s Madison Taylor last season.
After the Terrapins tied the score at 3-3 with 12:24 remaining in the second quarter, the Tar Heels locked down and cruised to the national championship game for the second year in a row, holding Maryland to just one goal in the final 27:01.
With UNC advancing to the championship game, at least one ACC team has played in the national title game in 16 of the last 17 seasons, while league teams have made 33 championship game appearances overall. ACC teams have won 14 national titles since the conference began sponsoring women’s lacrosse in 1997 and in all, ACC schools have captured 20 NCAA Championships.
ACC in the 2026 NCAA Women’s Lacrosse Championship
Friday, May 8 – First Round
James Madison 13, Notre Dame 12 (in Evanston, Ill.)
Boston College 10, Yale 4 (in Stony Brook, N.Y.)
Clemson 19, Davidson 6 (in Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Stanford 7, Penn State 5 (in Ann Arbor, Mich.)
Syracuse 8, Loyola Maryland 6 (in Annapolis, Md.)
Sunday, May 10 – Second Round
at No. 2 North Carolina 17, Clemson 6
at No. 5 Stony Brook 10, Boston College 9
at No. 6 Navy 11, Syracuse 10 (OT)
Stanford 13, at No. 7 Michigan 12
Thursday, May 14 – Quarterfinals
at No. 2 North Carolina 14, Stanford 11
Friday, May 22 – Semifinals
No. 2 North Carolina 16, No. 3 Maryland 6
Evanston, Illinois
Sunday, May 24 – Championship Game
No. 2 North Carolina vs. No. 1 Northwestern or No. 4 Johns Hopkins | ESPN | Noon
All times Eastern